Tom Beaulieu

I thought they would be the highest core need group; that was my understanding. However, can the Minister agree that once a unit or a house is considered beyond economical repair, that that unit is scheduled for replacement or should be replaced as opposed to being repaired? Thank you.

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. It is with great sadness and honour at the same time that I pay tribute to the last chief of Rocher River, a community that has not existed since the early 1960s.

On May 24th of this year Mr. Paul Biscaye passed away after being ill for almost two years. Paul leaves behind his wife of 57 years, Theresa, and six daughters, Anne, Sabet, Georgina, Julia, Violet and Gloria. Paul is predeceased by his only two sons, Raymond and Fred John. Paul was blessed with 10 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

Paul was born near Big Gap outside of Rocher River in 1930 and was...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to report to the Assembly that the Standing Committee on Social Programs has reviewed Bill 8, Social Work Profession Act. The committee wishes to report that Bill 8, Social Work Profession Act, is now ready for consideration in Committee of the Whole.

Mr. Speaker, the committee further wishes to report that it has reviewed Bill 4, An Act to Amend the Social Assistance Act. The Standing Committee on Social Programs wishes to report Bill 4 to Committee of the Whole and recommends that it not proceed further as committee has concerns about the use of administrative...

Since as an Assembly we really don’t have access to or any way of dealing with the NWT Power Corporation on this issue, I would like to know if the Minister could commit to having his department work with the municipalities and the NWT Power Corporation to have some of the lights installed in key places in the communities where the streets are not lit up at all.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier today I talked about the streetlights in smaller communities or the lack thereof on the roadways. Especially now with winter coming, we all know that there is limited sunlight, it’s very dark, and it’s quite terrible, actually, especially when I go there in the wintertime. I can’t walk around much later than 6:00 in some of the areas of Lutselk’e and Fort Res because of darkness. I’d like to ask the Minister, I understand that at one time the NWT Power Corporation used to install lights on the poles and then charge the municipality for the kilowatt usage. I’d...

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to talk about the lack of streetlights in the smaller communities. This is another example of something that’s taken for granted in the larger centres, but is an issue in many of our smaller communities.

Mr. Speaker, when the New Deal was struck between MACA and the communities, all things were not equal. Many of the small communities had, and still have, huge infrastructure deficits. Mr. Speaker, under the current infrastructure funding formula these communities are not able to initiate a proper infrastructure program that will allow them to catch up...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When you talk about lights, there are a lot of analogies that can be made. I’m listening to some of those. When the New Deal was formed and the New Deal was signed, because there was a relationship between the Power Corporation and this government through MACA, I suspect that was included in the formula when the New Deal was signed by the communities. Can the Minister tell me if he’s prepared to commit to going back to the formula in the New Deal and to see -- apparently this is a fairly expensive proposition – if lights were actually included in the infrastructure...

Could the Minister advise me if at the time when Municipal and Community Affairs had the responsibility to deal with the Power Corporation on street lighting, if the department has some sort of regulations, policies or formula for how many streetlights are needed to light up a street, how far between and so on? Any sort of regulation?

Mr. Speaker, this is a safety issue for residents and it’s time for this government to sit down in the small communities and resolve this long-standing issue. Today I’ll have questions for the Minister of MACA following the statements. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that’s good. I would like to thank the Minister for that response. Can the Minister develop a delivery strategy that’s focused on seniors so that when we go back to the seniors’ households and discuss housing issues with them, that we are able to tell them that there is some certain specific attention being paid to those households? Can the Minister develop a delivery strategy for seniors’ households? Thank you.